Thesis (MArch) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Architecture

Every sustainable design starts with an ambition of fulfilling the necessity of making
it “sustainable”, in other words, “sustainability” becomes the main problem of the
design problem. It becomes a priority in its nature, and unavoidably affects overall
design, design process, and design product. Ecological sustainable design, which is the
scope of this study, is frequently discussed in terms of technical, data-oriented, or
performance-oriented matters. This study, contrary to such studies, tries to emphasize
not –frequently spoken or less discussed design-related dimensions of sustainable
design in literature.
Therefore, this research study is aware that sustainable design is heavily equipped with
technical aspects of sustainability and aims to point out the other side of the coin, by
focusing on “design aspects of sustainable design without coping with its sustainable
parameters”. Every single sustainable design decision taken has an impact on the
overall design. While such a decision or idea might serve as a sustainable solution, it
also takes place in the overall design solution in a certain form. Therefore, at its
essence, this study aims to question how sustainable decisions affect the overall design,
at which it takes place, and in which form such a decision can be seen in the design.
To make it , the study is concerned with the investigation of both design products and
the design process behind the architectural design that is going to be sustainable.
To investigate such inquiries , two case studies and a review of the literature were
conducted to investigate this inquiry considering the listed question. A preliminary
case study based on an analysis of well-known examples of sustainable architecture
concludes chapter two, which is based on findings and a list of sustainable design
principles. Chapter three of the research focuses on the design process behind
sustainable design to make further investigations. A survey of the literature is used in
the research to revisit the design process hypothesis. Professional architect interviews
have been the key source of primary study, based on the theoretical knowledge derived
from the literature review.